A Hop, Skip, and a Jump
by fantasticmalfoy
Summary: Killian Jones is a normal guy, looking forward a humdrum life in the paper industry. Except, when he goes in for his interview, he finds a woman bound and gagged, telling him there's a mission the two must do. Just like that, he's whisked off to some fairytale world with only his wits, one Emma Swan, and a hook for a hand. Oh, and the death threats. Lots and lots of death threats.


"You've got to be joking."

He checked back with the slip of paper in his hand, the one with the address written in his messy scrawl, before glancing back up at the abandoned building that looked like it might fall down at any moment. As if on cue, a brick fell from the top of the building, where part of the warehouse roof had caved in. He rubbed his prosthetic left hand nervously before shaking himself and starting towards the entrance.

"Sure, Killian, why not," he muttered to himself as he went. "Of course an interview for a paper company would be in an abandoned warehouse, what else were you expecting?"

There were cockroaches crawling all over the entryway, and he swallowed his disgust, stepping gingerly over the crumbling frame. Once inside, he was about to call out, but saw there was a giant, white arrow on the floor, directing him off to the right, passing by a series of precariously stacked shelves.

"Cheery," he mumbled, following the arrow, his unease growing by the moment. He followed the arrows leading him through a twisting network that there was no way he'd be able to get back by.

Finally, he emerged into a long corridor, lit by the occasional spotlights, surprisingly dark given the fact that part of the roof was caving in. He squinted into the corridor, looking for any signs of other humans. Then, a final spotlight at the end of the corridor turned on with an electric buzz, and Killian cried out as it revealed a woman, sitting in a chair.

Wait, no – she was _tied_ to the chair, and a leather blindfold shielded her eyes. When the light hummed on, her head lifted, and her blonde waves whirled around her face as she turned, trying to understand where she was and what had changed.

"Oh, bloody hell…" Killian muttered, finding himself running down the corridor before coming to halt in front of her, pulling off her blindfold. She had startling green eyes that blinked open in panic, staring up at him before giving way to anger. She began to tug at her bonds.

"You!" she snarled. "What do you want, get me out of here or I'll–"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Killian cried, holding up his hands in a sign of peace. "Whoever… did _this,_ it wasn't me. What's your name, luv?"

She shot him a murderous look, still tugging at her bonds before a sudden understanding crossed her face. "My name… I'm Emma Swan."

"Killian Jones, at your service," he introduced himself, beginning to work at her bonds. His prosthetic wasn't much help, but he knew how knots worked, and this one was no puzzle. Finally, he had one of her hands freed, and she helped him work out the other three bonds.

When the job was done, she remained seated, rubbing at her sore wrists and eyeing Killian hesitantly. He stood, sticking his hands into his jeans pockets and saying, "Now, I'm glad to have helped, but I came here for a job interview, so if you've seen–"

"It's me."

"Come again?"

"Me. I'm the job."

Killian smiled uncomfortably, trying to make light of the situation. "Sorry, luv, but that isn't the type of job I'm looking for, though you are rather–"

"Shove it," Emma snorted. "That's not what I mean. The people who tied me up, the ones that offered you that job – that _perfect_ job – they have a job for us."

"Us?" Killian asked, confused. "I'm sorry, there's been some mistake, we've never met before. A tragedy, I'm sure–"

"Oh yeah, this'll be loads of fun," Emma interrupted him once again. "Come on, we better go."

She stood and started towards an alleyway between shelves, but Killian called, "Wait just a moment, Emma. What aren't you telling me? What do you know?"

She stopped, her back to him, and breathed in deeply before turning, reaching into her pocket and walking towards him, pulling out a scroll and holding it out to him.

"I don't know much," she said, her voice ringing with truth. "They told me, when they kidnapped me – they said that a man was going to arrive, and that I was going to have to work with him in order to… complete our mission. We're supposed to go through a door, and stop… and stop two people from meeting, or we both die, along with… with those we love most. That's all I know, but I'm sure the rest will be revealed on this… scroll."

Killian stared at her, completely bewildered and unsure what to do with this new, seemingly impossible information. He took the scroll with a shaking hand and unfurled it, looking at it, prepared to find some sort of world-shaking script.

There was one line at the top, a single direction that he read aloud. "The bean is in a red box. Throw it on the ground, go through the portal, and questions will be answered on the other side. If not, the first one dies." He looked at Emma. "Lovely."

"Listen, I don't like the idea of this any more than you do, but the thought of someone killing my loved ones…." She trailed off, her brow deeply furrowed. "I can't risk it, you must be able to understand that."

Killian sighed heavily, rolling the scroll back up. "Aye," he finally said, before adding, "Can't we just go and… pack first? I really didn't leave the house this morning with the intention of going through a portal."

"Please," scoffed Emma, folding her arms. "If these people are as ruthless as they sound, they'll have blocked off the building, made it so neither of us can leave, so that our loved ones will… die if we try."

"Of course," groaned Killian. "Well, a red box… shall we find this… bean?"

"It's not that hard," Emma said, a bit obnoxiously. She strode purposefully back over to the alleyway and removed a small red box, a bit like a jewelry box, from the shelf. She walked back over to Killian and removed the lid, which he took. Inside was a small, silvery bean.

"A magic bean," Killian said dully. "Who knew?"

Emma shot him a look and he exhaled heavily. She picked up the bean, handing Killian the box, which he took, looking at her irritably. She gazed at the bean, turning it over in her fingers before lowering it and looking to him.

"Are you ready?"

"I suppose."

She sighed shakily before lifting the bean and throwing it to the ground in front of them. It clattered on the cement, rather anti-climatically.

Killian looked to Emma. "I mean, it was just a bean–"

Suddenly, the whole warehouse shook. Emma cried out, and Killian watched in shock as a swirling green vortex exploded from where the bean had fallen, creating a sort of vacuum. Emma's feet slipped from under her, and she shouted in alarm as she hit the cement, sliding towards the portal.

"Killian!" she screamed, her hands scrabbling against the floor.

"Bloody hell!" he shouted as her feet slipped into the portal. He dove forward, unsure himself why, and grabbed her hand as she vanished into the vortex, pulling him headfirst with her.

* * *

"Christ…."

Killian blinked his eyes open, hearing Emma stir beside him. He heard waves crashing nearby and seagulls calling, a noise that made him feel oddly nostalgic.

"Swan?" he groaned, rolling onto his stomach and tilting his head. She was laying a ways away, her back to him. An unsettlingly… _bare_ back.

Emma sat up, her back still to him, completely naked. Killian gave a startled, choking cry upon realizing he was naked too, save a brace over his stump. Emma began to turn around, but he shouted, "Wait!"

She froze, gaining her bearings, and gave a startled shriek, frantically covering herself, despite her back still being to him. "What – why are we –"

"Why are you asking me?" he barked, looking around frantically, still pressed to the ground. He was starting to get a grasp on his surroundings, and realized they were in a sort of seaside cave, maybe down the coast from a seaside town. He also noticed some clothes scattered towards the back of the cave.

"Okay, um, just sit still, I see clothes, I'll throw you some."

"Hurry!"

He swore under his breath, staggering to his feet and clutching his jewels as he waddled over to the clothes, sorting through them until finding a corset, women's undergarments, and a dress, along with a cloak to keep her warm. He tossed her the garments before turning back to the remaining clothes, pulling them on.

Once he was fully dressed, he realized with irritation that whoever had sent them here hadn't given him a prosthetic, just the stupid brace with a spot to put _something._

He finally turned around, just as Emma was fastening her cloak. His eyes widened. She looked like she could have been neighbors with Shakespeare, but she looked _good._

She caught him staring and arched an eyebrow. "Got something to say, Jones?"

"Nothing you wouldn't hit me for saying," he said teasingly, and she smirked.

"Well," Emma sighed, starting towards the entrance of the cave. Killian followed. "Let's go and… figure out what exactly we need to do. Sounds like there's a town nearby, maybe the person who will answer our questions will be th – ere… oh, wow."

Killian stepped to her side. They were looking down on the ocean, sand underneath their feet. To their right was ocean side, and then a steep cliff, upon which sat forest. To their left was, as expected, a seaside village. However, much like Emma's new attire, they had stepped right into a fairytale world.

Killian whistled before starting down the beach, towards the town.

"Where are you going?" Emma shouted, hurrying after him.

"Well, I'm not just gonna sit around and wait for our mystery man – or woman – the pop up! I'm heading to the docks…." He paused before putting his cheery face back on. "For personal reasons."

It didn't take long to arrive at the docks. After all, they weren't all that far from the town in the first place. Emma followed him, obviously miffed, but it would be suicide to split up.

He wasn't sure why he did it. But when he saw the ship, all red and golden and beautiful, he strode right up the gangplank and onto its deck. Emma gave a strangled cry and followed after, linking her arm through his. "What are you doing?" she hissed.

"I don't really know," Killian replied, looking around the ship. "I just… I felt connected to this ship."

Emma released his arm and walked to the side of the ship, peering over the edge. "The _Jolly Roger,_ " she read aloud before turning to him with a smile. "Aye aye, Captain Hook!"

He made a face at her and she giggled. He walked to her side, looking at the water and getting hit with waves of nostalgia. It seemed just yesterday that he and Liam had been at sea, nothing but the ocean behind and before them….

"Oi!"

Killian and Emma spun around, taken by surprise. A man was standing there, staring at them, a box in his arms, obviously in the act of loading the ship. He was dressed like a pirate, and a dirty one too.

"Nice costume, mate," Killian said cheerily and the man set the box down noisily.

"What are you doing on Cap'n Blackbeard's ship?"

"Excuse me?" laughed Emma, stepping forward. "Blackbeard? Really?"

Quick as a whip, the man drew his sword, pointing it at Emma. Killian cried out in protest, but suddenly more men were storming up from below decks – only a handful, but with enough pointy objects to make Killian's hackles raise.

"Hey, now, there's no need for that–"

"This lubber thinks it's a good idea to laugh at our Cap'n!" the original man jeered, jabbing his sword at Emma, who snarled at him.

"Listen, you guys obviously are a little touchy about this Captain–" Emma stepped back quickly as the pirates roared and swung their swords.

"Honestly, you fools," another pirate sneered. "Don't you know how to stowaway proper?"

"Stowaway?" Killian scoffed. "I was just looking, since when is that _stowing away?_ "

"You aren't part of this crew!" a third shouted. "That means you're hitching a free ride!"

Killian and Emma exchanged frantic looks, and it was then that Killian realized how little he really knew this woman. They'd known each other for an hour, max, and yet somehow they'd already gone through a portal together and were now facing imminent danger and possibly death. Really, this morning he'd awoke with a promising future in the paper industry, and now he was about to be skewered by Blackbeard's frenetic crew.

"Can you fight?" Killian muttered as the pirates closed in.

"I can hold my own, if that's what you mean," she answered testily, raising her arms.

"Good," Killain sighed, shooting her a huge smile. "Because I've always been a bit rubbish at self-defense in school."

And with that, he threw a punch at the pirate getting a bit too close.

Chaos descended.

"Killian!" Emma shouted in protest, but Killian was a bit preoccupied trying to fend off about half of the pirates, while Emma instantly began to block and defend herself from the other half.

"Barely thirty minutes in this brave new world and I'm already in danger of dying," he cried over the sound of fighting, barely dodging a jab from a sword. Really, if these pirates weren't such rubbish themselves, he'd be dead long ago.

Emma was quickly taking care of her pirates. Killian was becoming more and more impressed by this woman by the moment, and was simply dying to know where she had learned to fight the way she had.

His distraction cost him, however. A pirate charged forward, dagger in hand, striking Killian a glancing blow to the shoulder. He shouted in pain, falling backwards and collapsing against the side of the ship.

"Killian!" Emma cried out as she hit her last pirate a wicked blow to the nose. She instantly descended on the final three pirates, quickly disabling two of them before the third – the same one who had caught them, and the same one who had hit Killian – spun quickly, hitting her across the face with the hilt of his sword.

Emma went down, hard, and Killian staggered to his feet, willing to defend her, despite barely knowing her.

"Impressive," the pirate sneered. "Quite. But honestly, you've lost. Give up now, and you might escape off the plank, rather than Blackbeard having at you."

"Sounds lovely," grunted Killian. "But I'd really rather not."

It was stupid. It was foolhardy. It was hopeless and pointless, but he did it anyway. He swung his fist, heavy with rings, at the pirate, clocking him a hard blow to the face. He stared at his stump distastefully and said to himself, "I really wish this came with a sword attachment."

"You'll pay for that, lubber!" the pirate growled maliciously, wiping his bloody lip as he stood, gripping his sword.

"Hey, Captain Hook! Eyes up!"

Killian snapped to Emma laying on the ground. She held a rope hook in her hand, one reminding him far too much of the fairytale character she had thus named him. He glanced at the stump, at the brace, and then back at the hook, suddenly understanding what the odd indentation in the brace was for.

"You mean to kill me?" Killian asked the pirate as he advanced slowly.

"With every fiber of my being," the pirate snarled. "Forget Blackbeard – I'm sure he'll understand."

"Good," Killian said. "Then I have no inhibitions about doing this!"

Emma threw him the hook, he clicked it into his brace (where it fit perfectly), and threw his arm forward, sinking it deep into the pirate's chest. The two made eye contact, and then the pirate fell backward, off of Killian's hook, and onto the deck.

Killian made a face, wiping his hook clean on his cloak before turning to Emma.

"Come on," Emma grumbled, getting to her feet. "We need to get out of here before Blackbeard returns and… deals with us."

"Thank you, Swan," Killian said, placing his hook on her arm. She glanced at the hook, then up at him, grinning.

"Any time, Captain Hook. Now, let's go find out mystery man."

He grinned at her too before turning to follow her off the gangplank, only to be confronted by a man blocking the way, except, he wasn't quite a man…. He was scaly, and his hair was knotted and greasy, and his eyes were an odd, unnatural color.

"Mystery man?" He tittered in an unusual, high-pitched voice. "Well, if you insist! I believe I am the _man_ you're looking for! Rumplestiltskin, at your service, dearies."

Killian and Emma exchanged a look that said more than words ever could.


End file.
